


so this is what's next.

by j_whirl44



Category: Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)
Genre: Blood and Injury, Dissociation, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Mass Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-21 17:13:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30025104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/j_whirl44/pseuds/j_whirl44
Summary: Sasha comes to with a splitting headache and blurred vison.
Relationships: Grizzop drik Acht Amsterdam & Sasha Racket
Comments: 4
Kudos: 12





	so this is what's next.

**Author's Note:**

> Hiya! This was the piece I did for the RQG Charity Zine!
> 
> I had such a good time working on this piece and on the Zine in general and if you've already read this thank you for the comments <3
> 
> And if you weren't able to get the zine; I hope you enjoy my piece now !

Sasha comes to with a splitting headache and blurred vision; she blinks a few times to try and fix that, but it’s no use. Her world is literally upside down as her nose is filled with the scents of smoke and blood. There are hushed whispers that do nothing to drown out the low rumbles of beasts from somewhere below. That shakes her memory.

Rome — they’re back in Ancient Rome, just before the fall. She and Grizzop landed here after… everything. She turns to the side and sees Cicero wrapped up in the same fate she is. She looks around, desperate to find Grizzop. She bites her lip to hold in a sob when she finally does. He’s lying limp on the ground. Bile tries to leave her throat; she swallows it down.

There’s no time to think as the dragons emerge and leave in a fury. Off to destroy the city that caged them. She slips out of her bindings, her captors too distracted by the new mess they made to notice. They run; she breaks free, heads straight for the body.

She’s not sure what she saw before she blacked out, but one look at him and it becomes clear. So many spears. Too many spears.

Sasha’s grateful, now, that it's hard to see. She kneels down and looks him over one last time. She pulls him in close and squeezes with what little strength she has. When she lets go, she’s a little more damp. She lays him back down, his eyes now shut.

She reverently goes through his things and then stands. A shaken Cicero waits for her. She walks over, he climbs onto her back, and together they head down the unfamiliar tunnels.

Away from her fallen friend.

Away from her old life.

As she navigates down the cold, damp path, she tries to decipher how much time has passed. It feels like everything happened in both the blink of an eye and in slow motion. After a couple of steps, she feels it again for the briefest moment: the white hot agony left by the spear that lodged into her chest. It was a pain that left as quickly as it came and when she turned to Grizzop for answers, he provided them. Just not in a way she wanted. 

She picks up her pace, taking in a sharp breath and gritting her teeth. Her grip tightens on where she holds Cicero to help ground herself in the present, because if she doesn’t, she might lose herself in whatever’s left of her mind as she begins to replay her final conversations with Grizzop. They were bickering about what to do and how to do it. Neither yet had the information they needed to work through it together. Both wore their hearts on their sleeves with such different ways of showing it. It certainly wasn’t the first time they’d clashed, but she just wasn’t expecting, and hadn’t wanted it to be the last.

There’s a bit of anger that rises in her now. It burns low in her chest and she wants to spit it out. She doesn’t like being angry, and at this point she doesn’t know if it’s anger at the situation or at  _ him _ . She’s alone again and she wants it to be his fault, a part of her begs it to be, but then she lets out a breath and the heat passes. She’s not that kind of person, one that searches for people to blame. She never was and she refuses to start now.

It’s quiet. So quiet she hears the blood pounding in her ears as it moves through her whole body. She doesn’t even notice the persistence of Cicero babbling away behind her. Until he mentions  _ ‘the goblin’ _ in such a sour and accusatory tone that it pulls her in. He continues on, swearing _ ‘the goblin’  _ is to blame for all this. She’s not in full control of her body when she brings him down and swings around to face him.

She leans in close and grabs his toga in both her fists. He’s scared. His face grows pale. She glares, her eyes as pointed and sharp like the daggers she carries. “If you say that one more time. I will kill you here,” she says. Her voice carries such a cold and calculated tone that it’s foreign even to her; she doesn’t care. He tries to stutter out a reply but she doesn’t give him the chance. She’s already turned away, continuing the path she was on. She doesn’t even bother to pick him up now — she thinks he’s lost that comfort. The sound of his dragging feet follow close behind. Her skin begins to tingle.

After a few more steps, screams come from above. She closes her eyes and balls her hands into fists to try and drown it all out. She’s almost successful — until the blood drips down. It lands on her hand and she watches as it trickles down the length of her finger, a new streak among the old scars she has there. She doesn’t dare look up, only forward. Her heart beats fast inside her chest. She’s so tired, but she keeps moving.

Finally, she’s out. The air that greets her isn’t fresh — it’s full of smoke and fire and, briefly, that familiar iron taste crosses her tongue. She shuts her mouth and breathes through her nose. The screams are impossible to drown out now.

She searches for anyone to help, but it’s no use. Everyone’s running and scattered. Another city burns in front of her and this time she’s too late. She knows the story. With all her might, she turns her back. There’s a hole in the wall with a road that leads up to the horizon. She heads towards it and Cicero follows. New friends await, along with a new life of which she has no idea.

She thinks of Grizzop. Despite the ache in her face, she smiles.


End file.
